JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. — The No. 21 University of La Verne men's golf team shot a three-round score of 900 (304-302-294) to earn a ninth-place finish amongst top Division III competition at the annual Jekyll Island Collegiate Invitational (par-72), hosted by Oglethorpe, at the Jekyll Island Golf Club on March 13-15.
The Leopards finished better than three teams ranked higher in the latest Bushnell Golfweek Division III Coaches Poll, including No. 1 Texas-Tyler. Twelve of the nation's top-25 teams competed in the prestigious tournament.
Senior Trent Twamley paced the Leopards, shooting a combined score of 2-under 214 to finish tied for fifth overall. Twamley came out of the gates firing and carded a 3-under 69 in the first round. He shot a 1-over 73 in the second round and rounded out the tournament with an even-par 72 in the final round.
Fellow senior Kelby Scharmann was his usual steady self, finishing 15th overall with a total score of 3-over 219. He carded a 3-over 75 in the first round, hit 1-under 71 in the second and came in with a 1-over 73 on the final day.
Sophomore Alec Spencer started slow but bounced back with a solid final round to finish tied for 77th overall (79-79-72=230). He shot a 7-over 79 in each of the first two rounds but booked an even-par 72 in the finals to help the Leopards finish strong.
Justin Smith (81-81-88=239) tied for 124th and Austin Matzaganian (85-79-80=244) finished tied for 139th to round out La Verne's lineup.
La Grange (290-288-285=863) claimed the team title. Cory Howard (73-66-68) of La Grange and Mason Stutler (67-69-71) of Methodist shared the medalist honors with scores of 9-under 207.
La Verne returns to action this weekend at West Cup on March 22-24.
